Azerbaijan, Baku, 21 March /corr. Trend K.Ramazanova / The issue of the date and place of the next meeting of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia remains unclear, said the U.S. Co-Chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza.
According to unofficial information, the meeting of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia regarding peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict may take place at the beginning of April in Bucharest within the NATO summit. Yerevan and Baku highlighted their preparedness to re-establish the negotiations process which was suspended as a result of presidential elections in Armenia in February.
The U.S. Co-Chairman said that the President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, who completes his presidential term will not participate in the NATO Bucharest summit, and the newly elected President of Armenia, Serj Sarkisyan, will come to the presidential oath no earlier than 9 April, Bryza said, adding that it remains unclear when the next meeting of the leaders of the two countries will take place.
The U.S. politician considers that the fair and sustainable settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains as one of the key issues of the US-Azerbaijan partnership. "The United States and Azerbaijan are satisfied with the deep friendship and strong strategic partnership. The high-ranking officials of Azerbaijan clearly made aware Washington that they intend to, in every possible way, strengthen and intensify our close relations in a wide diapason of issues of mutual interest," said the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Matthew Bryza.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.